Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.

My thoughts

First of all, this book is NOT about the Underworld. It’s about a girl who spends 20 minutes in the Underworld then spends the rest of the story adjusting to life after a NDE (near death experience). I cannot express how disappointed I am that the Underworld parts were so tiny.

There were far too many things that were either absurd or made absolutely no sense. 1) John’s age didn’t add up. When she was in the cemetery for her grandpa’s burial, she said she was a first grader and said he was a teenager. So that would put her at maybe 6? 7? And him at at least 13, but seeing as how she originally thought he was a man, not a boy….he’s probably a good 10 years older. Yet when she sees him again when she’s 15, she says he’s probably 18 or 19. Huh? And anyway, that aside, am I the only one who has a problem with a 15- and 19-year-old being involved? 2) But it’s a good thing, dad always says, that water in that pool was so cold. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be alive today. That’s the only way that they were able to restart your heart, once they got you warmed up. He’s actually right about that, though. Thanks to the nearly freezing temperature of the water, my physical recovery was complete. THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL. 3) Kite sailing, if I had to guess. You didn’t get biceps, but also a tan, from regular sailing.

Tommy Lee Jones thinks you’re an idiot.

4) “It’s just that it says a girl named Hannah Chang died of a drug overdose last night. But I’m sure it’s not the same Hannah Chang.” EPIC FACEPALM.“It says it was sleeping pills. Maybe she took one and then was so sleepy she forgot, and accidentally took some more. I’m sure she didn’t mean to kill herself.” I’M SO TIRED I DON’T REMEMBER IF I TOOK A SLEEPING PILL OR NOT. LET’S TAKE THE WHOLE BOTTLE!!! 5) The books also made it sound like there’s this big history between Pierce and John….and they kept talking about what ‘he did to her’ and ‘she did to him.’ She was down in the Underworld, almost got trampled by his horse, then he took her to his room and gave her a beautiful and obscenely valuable necklace…then she threw scorching hot coffee in his face and ran away. That about sums it up. She did kinda trick him into making everything seem like it was okay, but she pretty much just said, ‘Oh I’m just being silly’ and he was all, ‘OMGSH do you really mean that?!’ There was like 20 minutes of interaction, yet they acted like they knew each other really well. Much more time should have been spent in the Underworld to build up a realistic relationship. Pierce even made the comment about how horrible the Underworld was, and ‘what she had been through.’ Not even that much happened. There were some scary people in the line for Hell, but nothing bad actually happened. She exaggerated most of it. 6) Pierce shoved John’s gift back in his face, then called him a jerk. Sure, he’s a little creepy because he follows her around, but he was just trying to protect her. He didn’t even do anything wrong (other than display potential stalker abilities maybe). Her animosity toward him was unfounded and unnecessary.

Pierce irked me. For one reason, she kept referring to the fact that she was at the ‘Westboard Academy for Girls’ (or something like that) and how she should act, or how she learned to act while she was there…like that makes her better than anyone else. Also, if I have to hear one more comment about how selfless Pierce is, I’m going to hurl. John tossed a freaking lizard in the pool because he knew she’d see it and be compelled to save it, thus resulting in him getting to talk to her. *eye roll* Plus, she was a bit of a spoiled brat. I was not going back out there to turn off my bike lights. They could blink on and off all night for all I cared. I’d just buy new lights if they burned out. It’d be worth it. And if the bike got stolen, so what? I’d just make dad buy me a new one. This whole thing was his fault anyway. That’s what mom thinks. I CAN’T EVEN.

She kept referring to things to things that happened without giving the full story, so she only gave a detail of something…then by the time she actually did flash back, I’d forgotten all the details. It was really confusing how she jumped back and forth. The flashbacks were very choppy and I felt like they took away from the story rather to adding to it. Like I said, the plot was a train wreck.

It sounded a lot like Pierce blamed her dad for her ‘accident.’ In which she TRIPPED ON A SCARF, hit her head, and fell into a pool. Getting wrapped up in the pool cover and drowning. (How the hell do you trip on a scarf?!) But she made a comment that her dad was on a conference call and conveniently forgot that she was alone because her mom wasn’t home and the housekeeper was gone. We’re talking about a FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD here. What kind of a 15-year-old needs to be supervised? It’s not her dad’s fault she tripped on her damn scarf like an idiot. It just seemed ridiculous that everyone was blaming him for not watching a teenager that’s old enough to take care of herself. Oh, and he also ‘conveniently forgot’ that 2 of the rivets holding the pool cover were rusted. Why the hell does that even matter? Like two little pieces of metal are really going to matter. If you put the weight of a person on it, it’s going to give anyway. Jesus. She even said later on that it was no one’s fault but her own. So I don’t understand the blaming.

The romance was kinda….ehhhhh. Instalove in disguise. Because the L word doesn’t pop up until the end, but they basically barely knew each other. They see one another about 3 or 4 times throughout the whole story…once when she was seven, for crying out loud. Not to mention toward the end it got so cheesy that I could hardly stand it anymore.Everything. Nothing. I didn’t know. I couldn’t think. I felt as if the Milky Way hovering over our heads like a celestial pitcher had suddenly overturned, pouring suns and planets down my throat. Stars seemed to be shooting out of my fingers and toes, then ends of my hair.

Also, if she would have said ‘Check yourself before you wreck yourself’ one more time, I’d have stabbed someone. I should have counted, because I’m pretty sure she said it at least a dozen times.

If you plan on listening to this audiobook while driving, make sure you’re not tired. Because I had a 12 hour drive with 4 hours of sleep, and listening to this book was exhausting. Thank goodness it was only 9 hours long (most audiobooks I’ve seen are at least 12), because it seemed like it dragged on for freaking ever. Not to mention that the plot was a train wreck.

The narrator wasn’t too bad. She didn’t have an annoying voice, so I was able to stand her for 9 hours straight. But there were a few things that bothered me. 1) When she said ‘Isla de Huesos,’ she pronounced the S in ‘Isla.’ I’m pretty sure it’s silent…maybe I’m wrong, maybe it could be either way. But to me it should sound like ‘Eela.’ I’m probably just being picky >.< 2) When she says Mountain Dew, she calls it Mountaindew. The first time she said it, I honestly had no clue what she was trying to say. It took me about 3 tries to figure out she was talking about ‘Mountain…….Dew.’ Mountaindew.

But really, the term ‘forgive and forget’ doesn’t make sense to me. Forgiving does allow us to stop dwelling on an issue, which isn’t always healthy – just look at my parents. But if we forget, we don’t learn from our mistakes.

3 responses to “Audiobook Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot”

OMGGGG I love this book, but I understand where you’re coming from. But in the second book is a little more about the underworld, and it’s sooo good. I love the whole series. But I like your view point on the book.

I’m so glad you enjoyed it more than I did! I definitely think the audience is meant for teens, and if I was 16 or 17 I probably would have loved it. Also, thank you for being so polite, even though our opinions differ! It’s very refreshing, especially from someone younger (I saw on your blog that you’re turning 17 soon!).